NFL Player Found Dead WHERE?!? You Won’t Believe It.

Ex- NFL Player Found Dead

How does the #6 pick in the 1996 NFL draft end up dead in a jail cell 20 years later?

Lawrence Phillips

Lawrence Phillips, who went from football star to prison inmate, was found dead this morning in his cell at Kern Valley State Prison in California. He was 40 years old.

Phillips was serving a 31 year sentence for a combination of charges. In 2008, he was convicted for incidents including spousal abuse, false imprisonment, domestic violence, vehicle theft, and driving his car into three teenagers.

Things went further down hill for Phillips. In April of 2015 he was charged with 1st degree murder in the death of 37 year old Damian Soward. Soward’s body was found in the cell he shared with Lawrence Phillips.The coroner ruled his death the result of strangulation.

This charge meant Phillips could be facing the death penalty if found guilty.

Just after midnight, security checks were being done by the prison staff when they discovered Phillips’ unresponsive in his cell. He was rushed to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead an hour and a half later.

Initial indications are that Lawrence Phillips took his own life. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is investigating his death as a suicide.

Phillips played running back for the University of Nebraska football program before being drafted into the NFL. During his time at Nebraska he was arrested for, allegedly, assaulting his former girlfriend.

As a pro Phillips played for the St. Louis Rams and the Miami Dolphins. While with the Dolphins he plead no contest to assaulting a woman, bringing about his release from the team. He was later picked up by the San Francisco 49ers who cut him in 1999. He played briefly for the NFL Europe and the Canadian Football League.